Vengeance (2022)

Journalist Ben Manalowitz tells his podcast producer Eloise, "... when we experience something we really love, our overwhelming instinct is to somehow file it away for later." (0:05)

By telephone, Ty Shaw tells Ben, referring to Ty’s singer sister Abilene “Abby”, "Your girlfriend’s dead." 
”Funeral’s Sunday.” 
Ben: ”... Be in touch with your emotions.” (0:08)

Burial of Abilene (0:11)

Ty asks Ben, "An overdose?" 
”Schindler’s List...” (0:15)

By telephone, Ben tells Eloise, "... I’m on my way back from a funeral." 
Eloise: ”... the selfishness.” 
Ben: ”... this family just lost their daughter to an opiate overdose.”
”Except, her brother won’t accept it’s an overdose.” 
”The death of Abilene is about the death of American identity...” 
”... He’s saying such crazy things already.” (0:18)

Ben dictates: "... I’ve just learned about the death of Abilene Shaw..." (0:21<)

Ty tells Ben, "That’s... brilliant. You’re... smart." (0:21)

Abilene’s mother Sharon tells Ben, "... We can use all the distraction we can get." (0:22)

Granny Carole tells Ben, "It’s the pharmaceutical companies." (0:27)

Ty’s friend Crawl answers Ben, "A Mexican drug dealer... Not crazy about his prices though." 
Ty: ”... those lazy... -tards...” 
Crawl: ”... they find this angel... dead of an oxy OD at a party he threw.” 
”He’s been obsessed with her since middle school.” 
”... You got deep state in bed with pill pushers, cartels, pedos...” 
Ty: ”... That’s where a drug dealer can do their best business...” (0:32)

Ben dictates: "... I’m heading towards the Quentin Sellers music factory... where people pursue their dreams of musical stardom... His motto is ‘Making dreams come true since 2018‘..." (0:37)

Record producer Quentin Sellers tells Ben, "The problem isn’t that people aren’t smart... it gets channeled into... drugs and violence." (0:41)

Ben dictates: "... Every other primal human instinct leads to a clear evolutionary reward..." 
Ty: ”Let’s all make sure we don’t get Mexiphobia.” 
Ty and Ben at memorial to Abilene
Quentin: “... It’s not from a lack of intelligence...” (0:48)

Rodeo announcer: “... the Quentin Sellers Music Factory, making dreams come true since 2018" (0:51)

Ty tells Ben, "Don’t worry about it..." 
”Collective consciousness.” (0:55)

Ben tells drug dealer Sancholo, referring to Abilene, "... you were at the party where she died." 
Sancholo: ”...She took her last breath on my shoulder.” (0:56)

Sancholo tells Ben, "... I’m just an effing dropout drug dealer..." 
Ben: ”You told me that her last breath was on your shoulder...” 
”... She ODd.” 
Sancholo: ”... This was no OD...” (0:58)

By telephone, Eloise asks Ben, "Wait, so are you saying the Mexican drug dealer did it?" 
Ben: ”... something about America and fantasy and regret...” (1:01)

Ben tells police officers Pat and Mike, “I’d love to ask you a couple of questions about the death of Abilene Shaw.”
Mike: “ODd.”
Ben: “... were you able to talk to anyone who was there the night she died?" (1:03)

Sheriff Jimenez tells Ben, "These are oxy sticks..." 
”The most common overdose spot in the county...” (1:04)

A highway patrol officer tells Ben, "... If there’s a drug overdose at a party..." (1:05)

By telephone, Ben tells Eloise, "The murder or overdose happened where a lot of these things happen..." (1:06)

Ty: "Collective consciousness." 
Ben: ”... do we listen to that intuition or dismiss it?” 
Ty: ”An overdose?...” 
Quentin: ”... it gets channeled into conspiracy theories and drugs and violence.” 
Ben: ”I came here to find out why people in grief would choose to believe a myth.” 
”... how much truth might be embedded in that intuition.” (1:07)

Poster: "Overdose?... Administer naloxone Immediately" (1:10)

By telephone, Eloise tells Ben, "... it would take, like, two years of therapy to justify it, and I can’t afford that on my plan." (1:14)

Granny Carole finishes Ben’s sentence: "Crazy Texan family..." 
Referring to Abilene: ”... huge pill-popper.” (1:15)

Ty tells Ben, "I thought you wouldn’t do this with me if you knew that she was using..." 
”Drugs was something Abilene did... “
Ben: “But it is how she died...”
Ty: “Maybe it was part of the grieving process. Denial? Isn’t that one of the 12 steps of grief?” 
Ben: ”It’s 5 stages of grief, 12 steps to recovery...” 
”... Mexican drug dealers killed your sister. You invent these insane... narratives...” 
Ty: ”I had to drag you to her... funeral.” 
Sharon: ”... I think people don’t do drugs for no reason. They do drugs because they’re in pain....” (1:16)

Text on Ablene’s phone:"... when we text, they’re like obsessed with him now." (1:24)

Quentin tells Ben, "... First drug law in the United States passed in 1975. The Chinese rail workers brought in the opium den, and this country was so anti-immigrant that they banned the opium den, not the opium.” 
”... now we’ve got an opium epidemic breaking out across the heartland... I think you were smart for staying here... You got the opioid crisis..." 
Quentin shows Ben drugs. 
”... people overdose a hundred times a day, Ben...” 
Ben, referring to Abilene: ”She died at a party like this.” 
Quentin: ”She was a drug addict. She ODd...” 
Ben: ”Don’t get distracted.” 
Quentin, referring to fireworks: ”... that’s a hell of a distraction... the very definition of distraction.” 
Ben: ”She overdosed...” 
Quentin: ”... Why would you exploit her grieving family?...” (1:28)

Dispatcher: "We got a report of a possible overdose..." 
Dispatcher 2: ”Got a report. Quentin Sellers shot in the head.” (1:39)